Letter opener



Aug, 1953 H. B. HEDRICK 2,649,656

LETTER OPENER Filed y 26, 1950 INVENTOR. HERMAN 5f HEDE/C'K,

BY wflmw flmm .47'7'0QN5YS.

Patented Aug. 25, 1953 'UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LETTER OPENER Herman B. Hedrick, J onesville, Va.

Application May 26, 1950, Serial No. 164,488

1 Claim.

This invention relates to letter openers and more particularly to a device for slitting the edges of envelopes for openingthe same.

It is among the objects of the invention to provide an improved letter opener which can be drawn along an edge of an envelope and will slit the edge of the envelope without touching any of the contents thereof so that the envelope can be opened and its contents removed intact, which comprises a small rounded body easily and comfortably held in the hand and provided with a guideway for guiding the body along the edge of an envelope, which has oppositely disposed blades for slittin the envelope along both sides to completely separate the edge portion of the envelope and facilitate the opening thereof, and which is simple and durable in construction, economical to manufacture, positive and effective in operation, and neat and attractive in appearance.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the following description and the appended claim in conjunction with the accompanying drawing wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an envelope with a letter opener illustrative of the invention operatively applied thereto;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the letter opener;

Figure 3 is an end view of the letter opener looking at the right-hand end of the opener as illustrated in Figure 2; and

Figure 4 is a cross sectional view on the line 44 of Figure 2.

With continued reference tothe drawing, the letter opener comprises an elongated solid body I having a generally rectangular larger end portion and a smaller tapered end portion. This body may be formed of any suitable material, such as wood, hard rubber, synthetic resin plastic or metal, and may be suitably colored, coated or ornamented to enhance its ornamental appearance.

The body is of small size, a body having a length of approximately one and one half inches and a maximum transverse or diametrical dimension of approximately three quarters of an inch having been found to provide excellent results in use.

The body is provided in one side with a longitudinally extending slot H which is disposed medially of and substantially perpendicular to said one side and has a depth somewhat greater than half the distance between said one side and the opposite side of the body. This slot has a flared end l2 at the terminal end of the larger 2 end portion of the body to facilitate the entry of a corner of an envelope into the slot.

Two blades l3 and M are secured in the tapered smaller end portion of the body at the smaller end thereof and near the bottom of the slot II and each of these blades has a portion extending across the slot. Each blade has a cutting edge at the side thereof remote from the smaller end portion of the body If] and each of these cutting edges is disposed at an angle of approximately 45 degrees to the longitudinal center line. of the slot H. The two blades are thus disposed with their cutting edges substantially at right angles to each other and the end of the blade I4, as illustrated in Figure 4, overlaps the adjacent end of the blade l3 and is spaced therefrom.

A notch 15 is provided in the smaller terminal end of the smaller end portion of the body l0 and opens into the corresponding end of the slot I l and exposes the portions of the blades I3 and I4 projecting into the slot to facilitate cleaning the blades.

With this arrangement, when the edge portion of an envelope is received in the slot i I, the blade I3 is disposed at one side of the envelope and the blade M at the opposite side, both blades being disposed adjacent the edge of the envelope. As the body is drawn along the edge of the envelope, the blades l3 and M will slit or sever the two walls of the envelope near the corresponding edge and separate the edge portion from the remainder of the envelope to facilitate opening the envelope. As the blades are positioned very close to the edge of the envelope they will not touch any of the contents of the envelope so that the contents can be removed intact from the envelope after the latter has been slit by the letter opener.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiment is, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claim rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claim are, therefore, intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed is:

In a letter opener, a body having a forward end and a rearward end, said body being formed with a longitudinal slot in a side thereof and opening through the ends of the body, said slot having a bottom and spaced sidewalls, a first said body and having a free end portion extending laterally inwardly into the slot from the other sidewall of the slot at a point close to the slot bottom, said free end portions of the blades having cutting edges converging toward one end of said body and located at the sides of the free end portions remote from said one end of the body, both of said free end portions of the blades being positioned in a plane extending longitudinally through said body at right angles to the slot and closely spaced from the bottom of the slot, said free end portions of the blades being located close to said one end of said body, said body being formed with an access slot in said one end thereof opening into the adjacent end of the longitudinal slot and exposing the free 5 end portions of the blades.

HERMIAN B. HEDRICK.

UNITED STATES PATENTS References Cited in the file of this patent Number Name Date 802,909 Brisacher l Oct. 24, 1905 1,306,945 Brey June 1'7, 1919 1,995,887 Kimball Mar. 26, 1935 15 2,089,774 Wachstein Aug. 10, 1937 2,561,941 Maskowitz July 24, 1951 

